Browsing by Author "Trathan, Philip N."
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- Framework for mapping key areas for marine megafauna to inform Marine Spatial Planning: The Falkland Islands case studyPublication . Augé, Amélie A.; Dias, Maria P.; Lascelles, Ben; Baylis, Alastair M.M.; Black, Andy; Boersma, P. Dee; Catry, Paulo; Crofts, Sarah; Galimberti, Filippo; Granadeiro, José Pedro; Hedd, April; Ludynia, Katrin; Masello, Juan F.; Montevecchi, William A.; Phillips, Richard A.; Pütz, Klemens; Quillfeldt, Petra; Rebstock, Ginger A.; Sanvito, Simona; Staniland, Iain J.; Stanworth, Andrew J.; Thompson, Dave R.; Tierney, Megan; Trathan, Philip N.; Croxall, John P.Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) is becoming a key management approach throughout the world. The process includes the mapping of how humans and wildlife use the marine environment to inform the development of management measures. An integrated multi-species approach to identifying key areas is important for MSP because it allows managers a global representation of an area, enabling them to see where management can have the most impact for biodiversity protection. However, multi-species analysis remains challenging. This paper presents a methodological framework for mapping key areas for marine megafauna (seabirds, pinnipeds, cetaceans) by incorporating different data types across multiple species. The framework includes analyses of tracking data and observation survey data, applying analytical steps according to the type of data available during each year quarter for each species. It produces core-use area layers at the species level, then combines these layers to create megafauna core-use area layers. The framework was applied in the Falkland Islands. The study gathered over 750,000 tracking and at-sea observation locations covering an equivalent of 5495 data days between 1998 and 2015 for 36 species. The framework provides a step-by-step implementation protocol, replicable across geographic scales and transferable to multiple taxa. R scripts are provided. Common repositories, such as the Birdlife International Tracking Database, are invaluable tools, providing a secure platform for storing and accessing spatial data to apply the methodological framework. This provides managers with data necessary to enhance MSP efforts and marine conservation worldwide.
- A framework for mapping the distribution of seabirds by integrating tracking, demography and phenologyPublication . Carneiro, Ana Paula B.; Pearmain, Elizabeth J.; Oppel, Steffen; Clay, Thomas A.; Phillips, Richard A.; Bonnet‐Lebrun, Anne‐Sophie; Wanless, Ross M.; Abraham, Edward; Richard, Yvan; Rice, Joel; Handley, Jonathan; Davies, Tammy E.; Dilley, Ben J.; Ryan, Peter G.; Small, Cleo; Arata, Javier; Arnould, John P. Y.; Bell, Elizabeth; Bugoni, Leandro; Letizia, Campioni; Catry, Paulo; Cleeland, Jaimie; Deppe, Lorna; Elliott, Graeme; Freeman, Amanda; Gonzalez-Solis, Jacob; Granadeiro, José Pedro; Grémillet, David; Landers, Todd J.; Makhado, Azwianewi; Nel, Deon; Nicholls, David G.; Rexer‐Huber, Kalinka; Robertson, Christopher J. R.; Sagar, Paul M.; Scofield, Paul; Stahl, Jean‐Claude; Stanworth, Andrew; Stevens, Kim L.; Trathan, Philip N.; Thompson, David R.; Torres, Leigh; Walker, Kath; Waugh, Susan M.; Weimerskirch, Henri; Dias, Maria P.1. The identification of geographic areas where the densities of animals are highest across their annual cycles is a crucial step in conservation planning. In marine environments, however, it can be particularly difficult to map the distribution of species, and the methods used are usually biased towards adults, neglecting the distribution of other life-history stages even though they can represent a substantial proportion of the total population. 2. Here we develop a methodological framework for estimating populationlevel density distributions of seabirds, integrating tracking data across the main life-history stages (adult breeders and non-breeders, juveniles and immatures). We incorporate demographic information (adult and juvenile/immature survival, breeding frequency and success, age at first breeding) and phenological data (average timing of breeding and migration) to weight distribution maps according to the proportion of the population represented by each life-history stage. 3. We demonstrate the utility of this framework by applying it to 22 species of albatrosses and petrels that are of conservation concern due to interactions with fisheries. Because juveniles, immatures and non-breeding adults account for 47%–81% of all individuals of the populations analysed, ignoring the distributions of birds in these stages leads to biased estimates of overlap with threats, and may misdirect management and conservation efforts. Population-level distribution maps using only adult distributions underestimated exposure to longline fishing effort by 18%–42%, compared with overlap scores based on data from all lifehistory stages. 4. Synthesis and applications. Our framework synthesizes and improves on previous approaches to estimate seabird densities at sea, is applicable for data-poor situations, and provides a standard and repeatable method that can be easily updated as new tracking and demographic data become available. We provide scripts in the R language and a Shiny app to facilitate future applications of our approach. We recommend that where sufficient tracking data are available, this framework be used to assess overlap of seabirds with at-sea threats such as overharvesting, fisheries bycatch, shipping, offshore industry and pollutants. Based on such an analysis, conservation interventions could be directed towards areas where they have the greatest impact on populations.